N. Peter Kramer’s Weekly Column
The European Commission this month said nuclear and natural-gas power can be climate-friendly after all. This policy is so sensible it has run straight into green opposition. The kerfuffle surrounds the taxonomy for green investments release by the Commission in the late hours of the old year. By including some nuclear and natural-gas electricity generation, ‘Brussels’ seeks to unlock hundreds of billions of euros in private and government investment for climate-friendly projects.
The critics lack much of a technical case. On natural gas, they complain the EU’s proposed thresholds for carbon-dioxide emissions are too loose. The rule would allow a gas-fired plant to have emissions of 270 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour of power generated, compared to the 100 grams level environmentalists think is necessary to save the planet. Yet that limit of 270 grams already will require substantial technological innovation. Gas emissions currently run between 400-500 grams per kilowatt hour. And even without the expected innovation, burning gas emits less CO2 than the 700-plus grams released by the coal that gas would replace.
Environmentalists also object that the Commission’s blessing for gas and nuclear comes with an expectation of technical advances that might not occur. But most of the promise of renewables also remains far in the future . Achieving energy security with wind and solar will require advanced power-storage technologies such as batteries that don’t exist. In its proposal, the Commission chose to allow nuclear and gas investment to boost stability of the energy supply until renewable technologies can catch up to a modern economy’s need for power around the clock in all weather.
Most EU governments understand all this, although political leaders in Spain, Austria and Denmark expressed opposition, and Berlin appears to be lukewarm. The expectation is that the Commission’s proposal is likely to secure the support it needs from a majority in the Council. But … the plan also requires approval by the European Parliament, which will become another battle between green dreams and energy experience.
